Follow Friday (8), TGIF @ GReads (4), Book Blogger Hop (8)

This past week at Ramblings of a Daydreamer:
 

Miscellaneous:

A tribute to my Grama ~ 1911 - 2011 (I didn't participate in the blog hops last Friday because my beloved Grama passed away the day before, so I wrote a tribute to her instead)
Liebster Blog Award!

Book Reviews:

Dead as a Doornail by Charlaine Harris 

Weekly Memes:

WWW Wednesdays (12) & Waiting on Wednesday (1) 

Top 10 Tuesday: Underrated/obscure books

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TGIF at GReads Week 4: TGIF is hosted by Ginger at GReads - be sure to check out her blog and join in the fun!

This week's question: Author Block Party: If you could gather a handful of authors to hang out with, who would you choose?
I'd choose authors who's brains I'd love to pick (not literally, I so don't get the whole zombie craze) while we munch on hamburgers and potato salad. You know, all casual-like so it doesn't seem like I'm picking their brains. Who am I kidding, I'm not that smooth. Anyway, I'd invite my two biggest writing inspirations, Nora Roberts and JK Rowling...authors I think are talented and write funny books (funny writing is something I haven't been able to master) like Maddy Hunter, Janet Evanovich and MaryJanice Davidson. Oh, and Sarah Jio, just because she's amazingly talented and a sweetheart, and I'd love to hang out with her (and yes, pick her brain too)!

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Follow Friday Fun Week 8 - this weekly meme is hosted by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read.  Check out their blogs for details/rules, and to join!  Also, be sure to check out this week's featured bloggers on each of the girls' sites!

This week's question: How have your reading habits changed since you were a teen? 

As much as I loved to read as a teen, I was so busy that a lot of the books I read seemed to be assigned novels, books to write reports on, research books, etc. My local library had literally one book shelf with young adult books (compared to now where they have more than I can count), and I didn't like my school library's selection, so my tastes were limited. I bought quite a few books back then and my tastes ran mostly to fluff - The Baby-Sitters Club (I kept reading them way after my friends stopped, just because I loved the characters), Sweet Valley High, stuff like that. Now I'll read just about anything - I still read young adult (although not BSC or SVH lol) but I read just about every other genre imaginable, too. Books have changed a lot in the handful (or so) years since I was a teen, and I've changed a lot too.

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Book Blogger Hop Week 8 - This is a weekly meme hosted by Crazy For Books.  Be sure to stop by her blog to check it out.  This week's post is here.

This week's question: Let’s talk crazy book titles! Highlight one or two (or as many as you like!) titles in your personal collection that have the most interesting titles! If you can’t find any, feel free to find one on the internet!

I love titles that are a clever play on words. I don't personally own any of these books (although I wish I did), but I've read them all:
*Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series (One for the Money, Two for the Dough, Three to Get Deadly, Four to Score, High Five, etc etc, all the way up to
Explosive Eighteen, which will be released this November)
*Maddy Hunter's Passport to Peril series (Alpine for You, Top O' the Mournin', Pasta Imperfect, Hula Done It? etc)
*MaryJanice Davidson's Queen Betsy series (Undead and Unwed, Undead and Unemployed, Undead and Unappreciated, etc)
*Charlaine Harris's Sookie Stackhouse series (Dead Until Dark, Living Dead in Dallas, Club Dead, Dead to the World, Dead as a Doornail, etc)
*Victoria Laurie's Ghost Hunter series (What's Ghoul to Do?, Demons are a Ghoul's Best Friend, Ghouls Just Haunt to Have Fun, etc), as well as her Abby Cooper, Psychic Eye series (Better Read Than Dead, A Vision of Murder, Killer Insight, Crime Seen)

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Have a great Friday and a wonderful weekend, everyone!  If you participate in Book Blogger Hop, Follow Friday Fun or TGIF - or even if you don't - be sure to leave a comment (I love comments!) and I'll visit you in return!

Book Review: Dead as a Doornail by Charlaine Harris

Dead as a Doornail (A Sookie Stackhouse Novel) by Charlaine Harris

A Southern Vampire Mystery #5

Published: April 25th, 2006

Publisher: Ace Books

295 pages (paperback)

Genre: Paranormal romance/mystery

Acquired this book: at the library

Warning: may include spoilers

{Amazon  ||  GoodReads}

Synopsis, taken from dust jacket of book: Small-town cocktail waitress Sookie Stackhouse has had more than her share of experience with the supernatural – but now it’s really hitting close to home. When Sookie sees her brother Jason’s eyes start to change, she knows he’s about to turn into a werepanther for the first time – a transformation he embraces more readily than most shape-shifters she knows. But her concern becomes cold fear when a sniper sets his deadly sights on the local changeling population, and Jason’s new panther brethren suspect he may be the shooter. Now Sookie has until the next full moon to find out who’s behind the attacks – unless the killer decides to find her first…

My thoughts on Dead as a Doornail:

I first started reading the Sookie Stackhouse series a few years ago.  I'll admit, I didn't exactly enjoy them - there were a lot of things that annoyed me, especially when I was in editor mode - but for some reason, I kept reading and managed to get through 4 books before giving it a break.  A long break.  I guess I just like to give certain series a chance, or there's a glimmer of something interesting enough to keep me reading, even when I think I should stop.  Or I'm just a bear for punishment.  Anyway...when True Blood came out, I was curious about it but I don't get HBO.  Everyone and their great uncle Fred seemed to love the show, and I was desperate to watch it, so was surprised and thrilled when I discovered my library got the DVDs when they received new funding.  I loved the show instantly and decided it was time to give the books another shot.

Since it's been a couple of years at least since I read the previous book in the series, Dead to the World, I'd forgotten what happened, but a lot came back to me as I read Dead as a Doornail.  And you know what?  Despite the fact that a few things still kind of bothered me, I actually really enjoyed this book.  I don't know whether it's because I'm able to picture the actors as the characters now, or because I realize that Sookie and Jason are supposed to be that stupid, or what.

I like how the series follows along and touches on things that happened in past books, but doesn't dwell on them.  The rather large cast of quirky characters keep things interesting, and the few new additions add to that interest. 

I only have 2 real complaints, one is technical, and the other has to do with the story itself.  The technical one is that certain parts are too detailed.  I don't need to know what Sookie does in the bathtub or that she needs to drop off books at the library and movies at the rental place.  I remember that being one thing that really bothered me before, but it didn't seem quite as bad this time.  The other thing was how many love interests does Sookie really need?  By my count, there were six in this book.  Yes, six.  It's beginning to seem like she's sexually attracted to every guy she meets, plus of course the old standards, but she can't make up her mind which to be with, or whether to be with any of them.

Overall, I’d recommend this book if you enjoy paranormal romance or mystery. It’s funny, kinda weird, and a quick read. I don’t think I’ll wait a couple years before reading the next book, Definitely Dead. 

*I belong to Amazon Affiliates - anything that you buy from my blog through Amazon gets me a small commission, and as a struggling freelance writer, I can use every cent I can get!  If you're considering buying this book or any other book I review, if you go to Amazon through the links on my blog to buy, I'll be eternally grateful!*

WWW Wednesdays (12) & Waiting on Wednesday (1)

WWW Wednesdays is a weekly meme hosted by Should Be Reading.  All you have to do is answer these 3 questions:

1. What are you currently reading?
2. What did you recently finish reading?
3. What do you think you'll read next?

Simple right?  I love to read and love to know what other people are reading!

What are you currently reading?

I'm about to start reading Boys Next Door by Jennifer Echols, and I still have to finish Coffee at Little Angels by Nadine Rose Larter.

 

What did you recently finish reading?

I just (like a few minutes ago) finished reading Dead as a Doornail by Charlaine Harris.  I'll be posting the review for that tomorrow.  I usually have a few to list but I spent all of last week reading A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness and because it was only a week loan from the library, I didn't have time to finish it (almost 600 pages and I'm the slowest reader ever).  I'm hoping to get it back soon so I can finish it and finish my review.

What do you think you'll read next?

My review requests are piling up.  I have That Day in September by Artie Van Why, which I promised him I would have done before the 10-year anniversary of September 11.  I also have Brightwing by Sullivan Lee, Flame of Surrender by Rhiannon Paille, and a couple of review books coming in the mail, plus a pile of library books.  Oh and did I mention I'm trying to have my own novel ready for publication by September?  Yeah.  There really aren't enough hours in the day!

What are you reading this week?  Have you read any of the books on my list?  Have any suggestions?  I'd love to hear from you!

 

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I've decided to participate in Waiting on Wednesday, which is hosted by Breaking the Spine and is meant to showcase upcoming releases that we're eagerly awaiting.   This week I'm waiting on...

 

Dutch Me Deadly by Maddy Hunter

Publication date: February 8, 2012

 

Synopsis: As a travel escort for seniors, Emily Andrew-Miceli has led her feisty Iowa clan all over the world. This time, they’re off to see historic windmills and Dutch art in Holland—if they can ever unplug from their smartphones, that is. Joining them is the class from Bangor, Maine, celebrating their 50th reunion, which is divided by old rivalries. Emily’s hopes for a 100% survival rate on this trip are dashed when an important member of the tour suffers a tragic (and highly suspicious) accident. Then the saucy seniors’ wild night of drug-laced desserts and risqué shows in Amsterdam’s red light district gets even more mysterious when one reunioner—the class bully—goes missing. 

 

I cannot tell you how excited I am about this book!  When I was writing my Top 10 Tuesday post on Monday night, I looked up the order of Maddy's books and discovered Dutch Me Deadly.  I was sure that Norway to Hide, released in 2007, was Maddy's last installment of the series, and apparently so did she - Maddy was nice enough to talk to me briefly today and I discovered that another publisher wanted her to carry on, so she's going to continue the series!  She's even going to see what she can do about getting me an ARC - she is super nice and I was thrilled to chat with her!

 

What are you waiting on this week?